ZERO S01E09: Revenge is Weak
Episode 9: Revenge is Weak is the ninth episode of Star Rider ZERO, an online written show by Haou1987. It began on November 4, 2013. With the Mexus Cartel seeking revenge against the archer who attacked their assets, the city is suffering under several bombings who seemingly are tied to the Mexus Cartel. However when Mark and Ashley dig deeper, it is not only the Mexus Cartel revealed to be behind the bombings and broad daylight attacks on street. Characters introduced: '''The Council of Five, Evan Youngson, Hiroko Aiken, Seth Darville, Miles Storn, Alejandro Valeres, Owen Forshir '''Production and writing time: '''November 4, 2013 - November 6, 2013 Synopsis A bus full of people going to their work was driving down Fifth Avenue at an early morning, with the radio of NY5 Radio playing some new popular songs. The bus stops at a new stop near the street of the NYPD precinct when a young man with black sunglasses and a grey backpack enters the bus, taking a seat near the driver. When the bus turns around the corner, the young man opens his backpack, revealing a timer inside and a bomb, He flips a switch and pushes the emergency stop. He apologizes to the driver, but he is ordered to get off the line by the driver. He then walks towards the NYPD precinct when the bus drives off. At the end of the street the bus is engulfed in a giant explosion, destroying the bus entirely. At the same time, in an overview of the city, four more explosions are seen in the city. Mark wakes up from the blasts heard in the city and Ben and Anne enter the living room. Mark is revealed to be sleeping on the couch, not in the bedroom where he and Emma would sleep before. Anne and Ben, frightened by past experiences, ask if he knows what is going on and Mark switches on the TV. Breaking news comes in that five busses have exploded in New York and it has just come in that a single robber has taken NYPD officer Colin Harris hostage and has disappeared entirely underground. Understanding well what this means, Mark picks up the phone to call Captain Brack, but then another explosion is heard and another breaking news story comes in that the car carrying Captain Walton Brack has been blown up and that the Captain had barely survived the explosion. Deciding it is not safe to go to the precinct, Mark leaves for the New York Herald, telling his children to stay at home and keep the doors locked. Colin Harris wakes up, being bound to a chair, and the chair chained to the ground, when the young man who caused the bus to be blown up, appears. Colin demands to be released, but the young man smirks, saying he has no intention of letting him go. He reveals he is equipped with specialized equipment, enhancing his strength, speed and reflexes. He says he is a disciple of the Council of Five, the powerful board behind the attacks of today and his kidnapping. Colin tells him he will pay for what he has done, but the young man tells him he underestimates his power or the Council's power. Under the guise of the recent activity of the Mexus Cartel who swears revenge, they can start testing the new equipment of Project SIN. He then kicks two of the chair's handles down, dropping Colin on the ground and injects him with a serum. Mark arrives at the New York Herald. His boss immediately awaits him, saying two of the Herald's reporters were on seperate busses and they are both casualties in this ruthless act. Mark asks him what they are going to do. Horace tells him he has ordered all his reporters to stay at home and work from there, and he advises Mark to do the same. Lock the doors and stay inside. Mark grabs his spare laptop and case from his desk and heads back out when he meets Ashley. Ashley confesses she is scared and doesn't want to lock herself in at home. Mark invites her to come with him, but warns her that he most likely will be targeted due to his involvement with previous Cartel activities. Ashley says he most likely will, but she rather would stay with him and be in danger, then be alone. Mark and Ashley get in Mark's car. In a large darkened room, multiple screens were shown and two men were watching the screens. Charles "One-Eye" Dunnow and Freddie Verengue are the two men watching the screens and Charles say the meeting has begun. The screens flash on revealing four men. Charles says as this is Freddie's first national meeting he will introduce him to them, the four Underlords of the Mexus Cartel operating in the United States: Hiroko Aiken, Seth Darville, Miles Storn and Alejandro Valeres. Charles cuts to the chase and tells the other Underlords they have retaliated against the city of New York, against the people who threatened their goals, their stashes and their operations. They are about to make major strikes, but they need the Vote of Five to be able to execute those strikes. Performing the Vote of Five, Charles and all of the other Underlords, except for Freddie who stays out of the vote due to the first national meeting, all vote to intensify the attacks on the city, put strain on the mayor. When they ask how this is going to happen, Charles introduces them to Dr. Hannibal Leichter. Dr. Leichter enters the chamber with another table filled with screens, showing five people, the same five he spoke to after the bank heist. Dr. Leichter tells the other Underlords the reason why the attacks today had been succesfull is because the Council of Five facilitated the attacks with specialized bombs designed for maximum damage. Even more due to the introduction of Project SIN, they will have weapons on the streets that cannot be stopped by the means of the city. The other Underlords are impressed. Hiroko Aiken tells them he has a free hand and the Underlords agree in unison that Charles is the one in charge of the operations here in New York. The Council of Five, spoken by the woman in the Council, warns the Cartel that if they even think of moving against them, the Cartel is dead. The woman then tells Dr. Leichter to give the Underlords their full cooperation and the screens pop to black. The Underlords turn to Dr. Leichter, asking him what is next. Dr. Leichter opens a laptop, activating the first test subject of Project SIN. He then calls Evan Youngson to unleash him on the city. Mark and Ashley arrive at Mark's home where Anne and Ben have locked themselves up. Mark and Ashley place their laptops next to each other and proceed to gather the video's on the explosions. Ashley wonders why they are looking at them and Mark says it may be a good story, they may find something to help find the people who did this and maybe they can figure out a way to once and for all end the Cartel's operations here in New York. As Ashley goes getting some coffee, the news sites show breaking news that three men were shot and killed in front of the hospital. Mark believes the day is getting worse and worse when shots are heard outside. He hides beneath the window and peaks outside, seeing Colin standing there with a automatic rifle. Mark can't believe his eyes, but when Colin opens fire on the house again, he orders Ashley to go into his bed room, they will be safe there. Ashley demands to know what Mark is going to do and Mark tells her he is going to try and reason with Colin. After another series of shots followed, Mark goes outside with his hands up in the air. Colin raises his weapon warning Mark he has no control over his body revealing his arms equipped with strange metal devices. Mark implores him to gain control but Colin tells him how he had been abducted by someone and how he had been equipped and send here to kill him. He starts firing with the rifle, but due to Mark's implants he is capable of dodging the bullets. Mark attempts to disarm Colin, but he manages to push Mark into his home. Mark, having had enough, transforms (out of sight) into Star Rider ZERO and quickly gains the upperhand against Colin, absorbing the electricity from various streetlights to overload the systems on Colin's metal devices, disabling the devices easily. As Colin is about to thank him however, the backup system takes over, taking over full control over Colin's body and turns on the few people running for their lives outside. While Star Rider ZERO manages to shield some of the people, at least four casualties fall at the hands of the controlled Colin. Star Rider ZERO manages to disarm one of the devices from Colin's arm, but Colin grabs some of the headpiece. As he manages to wreck it, ZERO steps in and reforms the armor around Mark's head again and Colin was unable to see who was behind it. Star Rider ZERO overloads the equipment on Colin and knocks him unconscious. Colin wakes up in the Wellace home on a couch. Having restrained him, Star Rider ZERO asks him how he got himself mixed up in this. Colin tells him he knows the guy who captured and possibly transformed him, Evan Youngson. The city seems in chaos, with Captain Brack gone and the mayor forced to go into hiding. Star Rider ZERO says he can stop it if he knows where Evan Youngson is hiding. Colin says he has no clue, probably in a known safehouse of the Cartel. He then demands to know why Star Rider ZERO is in the house of Mark Wellace and Star Rider ZERO says the Wellace family has been a victim of the bank heist, the attacks on them previously and now this again, he felt responsible for them, especially for Mark who was the one on who it all came down on. Colin then tells him he saw the video of Star Rider ZERO fighting Dreadtooth, he seemed like a real hero despite of what the media and the NYPD think of him. Star Rider ZERO tells him they can waste more time on this after this crisis has been abaded. Colin volunteers to travel to the precinct and look up files on Evan Youngson, he'll keep in touch with Mark. Star Rider ZERO agrees and says Mark is in the safest room of the house at the moment with his children and coworker, he is safe there. Colin leaves for precinct. Star Rider ZERO goes up and opens the bedroom door where Ashley, Anne and Ben are hiding. Star Rider ZERO stops Ben from hitting him with a pipe and tells them they are safe now. Ashley asks him where Mark is. Star Rider ZERO tells her he has gone with the police to the precinct and see if they can find any connection between the attacks and him. Ashley and he go down, while Anne and Ben stay hidden in Mark's bedroom. Star Rider ZERO tells Ashley if she wants to help Mark and him, she needs to find him a connection between the attacks and possibly ARCO Industries. When Ashley asks why, Star Rider ZERO tells her he has seen the equipment Colin had on him, looked rather similar to what Mark had as implants. Before wondering what Star Rider ZERO knows about Mark's implants, Star Rider ZERO cuts her off saying if she finds anything out, she must call Mark. He can figure out what to do. Ashley, still not knowing what to say or do, says okay but she will stay here. Star Rider ZERO leaves the house, revealing the equipment he had ripped off Colin to be hidden in the vault where Mark's files were first. Star Rider ZERO leaves the street on the motorcycle he used to use a few days ago to chase after the Black Archer, before transforming back to Mark. Mark is called by Colin, who informs him of how he met Star Rider ZERO. Mark asks if he found anything. Colin says yes, the last known location of Evan Youngson is in the warehouse where there was a shootout between the Cartel and the Black Archer. Mark thanks him. Colin asks he does not want to know what he is going to do, but he shouldn't stay in touch with Star Rider ZERO, he is still sought after by the NYPD. Mark thanks him for the warning and sits down on the motorcycle and drives off, not realizing there is a drone flying above him, filming him with a camera and following him the entire road down to the warehouse. In front of the hospital a bus is parked, with inside Evan Youngson and Dr. Leichter watching a couple of monitors and laptops. One of the laptops showed the feed of the drone eyeing Mark, the other laptop had a map of the hospital with various dots on it. Evan asks what those dots on the screen are. Dr. Leichter answers if he remembers the bank heist the Venom Gang and Madison Crena did and after a positive answer, Dr. Leichter tells him of the special nail guns they used there spreading small nails with a venom easily curable venom. The true objective of those nails were not meant to be the spread of the venom, but place a traceable DNA sample in them, with the small nail disappearing into the blood stream when the venom was cured. However, the Council of Five secretly ordered the creation of a biological weapon that would specifically target those people, painfully killing them. He points at a canister in the bus. Evan tells him smooth. Dr. Leichter tells him if the Cartel wants to seed more terror, they can do that on the hospital. Evan knocks on the back door, introducing a young man as Michael, saying he volunteered for the job. Michael seems shaky but accepts the job. Mark in the meantime arrives at the warehouse, where he transforms into Star Rider ZERO again and enters the building. There he finds no-one inside, but an interesting setup of computers and diagrams. Star Rider ZERO looks around and deforms the head piece, allowing Mark to call Colin. Mark tells Colin of the empty warehouse and that there is nothing there but computers and diagrams. Colin apologizes, he thought Evan would be there. Mark tells him to hang tight and hangs up, after which he hears footsteps and he reforms his headpiece, becoming Star Rider ZERO again. Star Rider ZERO sees maps of the hospital, deducing that a possible next attack is going to happen on the hospital. He suddenly is confronted by a group of armed men and Owen Forshir, a member within the Mexus Cartel and brother of Erik Forshir. Owen Forshir tells Star Rider ZERO he is responsible for the dead of his brother and calls Star Rider ZERO by Mark's name. Owen Forshir tells him yes he knows Mark's true name. Star Rider ZERO however quickly disarms the men around Owen Forshir, but Owen Forshir proofs to be a formidable opponent. Ultimately Owen Forshir sets off bombs around the facility, forcing Mark to leave it before it explodes. Mark contacts Colin, telling him of the hospital maps he found and that he needs to send people there, maybe they can stop the attack from happening. Colin agrees to do so and tells Mark to meet up there. Mark sighs and leaves for the hospital again, again followed by the drone. As Mark drives away, Owen Forshir appears from around the corner calling Dr. Leichter, telling him that he is on his way to the hospital, he took the bait. Dr. Leichter on the other side, demands that he raids the house of Mark Wellace and make sure the equipment equipped with Colin Harris is gone from there. Owen Forshir tells Dr. Leichter that he is understaffed. Dr. Leichter informs him that it is just two defenseless children and a woman, he can handle them. Owen Forshir agrees and leaves in a black SUV parked around the corner. Mark arrives at the hospital and sees he is there sooner then the NYPD. From the bus, Dr. Leichter seems happy he sees Mark in there. He takes a microphone and tells Michael to activate the canister at the place. Michael says he is already in place. Mark enters the hospital and Dr. Leichter orders Michael to activate the canister now. As soon as Michael confirms the activation of the canister, the purple dots on the screen of the laptop of Leichter turn red. Mark, in the hospital is met by Robert Crane who asks why he is there. Mark says they need to silently evacuate the hospital, an attack by the Cartel is imminent. Robert Crane asks how he knows this and Mark informs him of the maps and blueprints of the hospital in the warehouse. Robert informs the security of the hospital ordering them to slowly begin evacuation when the first people start falling on the ground. When Robert tells Mark they are on the verge of dieing due to unknown reasons, Mark deduces the attack has begun and runs off. When Robert calls after him, Mark tells him his wife is in the hospital. Mark suddenly begins to feel weak as well, getting blurred vision, realizing he has been affected as well. ZERO kicks in, transforming Mark into Star Rider ZERO, allowing him to shake off the effects of the gas spread around the hospital. Star Rider ZERO now proceeds further into the hospital, asking a nurse where Emma Lexing lies. Getting the location of Emma's room, Star Rider ZERO continues down there, but finds Michael barring the way. Michael is sporting a large rifle and starts shooting at Star Rider ZERO, but Star Rider ZERO dodges them with ease. He then quickly engages the assailant taking him out, but a device in the neck of Michael activates, enhancing his strength and fighting back. Wrecking much of the hallway, Star Rider ZERO sees how Emma starts having the same symptons as the patients below and Star Rider ZERO absorbs the electricity from lamps to blow a hole through the device of Michael and then knocking him out. He then finds the canister and unleashes a bit of electricity blowing it up. Star Rider ZERO enters the room of Emma, who is heavily breathing and showing signs of heart failure when she recognizes Star Rider ZERO as the one who protected them in the bank heist. Mark doesn't know what to do when he takes her hand, but ZERO takes over control, bonding itself with Emma, who is shocked to find out Star Rider ZERO is her husband. Under ZERO's control, Emma is quickly cured of the symptons and immune to the effects of the canister's gasses. When ZERO rebonds with Mark, Mark becomes himself again and apologizes to Emma. Emma doesn't know what to say at first but then hugs Mark as she tells Mark he saved her. Mark tells her they have a lot to talk about, but he can't do it right now. Emma tells him she understands and for now she will keep his secret safe. Kissing her again, Mark leaves the hospital room and goes back down to the front entrance. Dr. Leichter and Evan Youngson look at the screen depicting the red dots disappearing one by one. Dr. Leichter opens another laptop revealing the Council of Five and tells them the test of the DNA Virus was succesful. The Council of Five congratulates him and say he is done there. Dr. Leichter closes the laptop and tells Evan they are done here. Evan asks him what he meant. Dr. Leichter tells him all the patients who were injected with the nails are dead, they succeeded. To be continued ... Trivia *This is the first episode in which Mark is forced to reveal his dual identity as Star Rider ZERO and his wife being the first one to know it. Seasons 1 - 2 Season 1 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - '''9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 Category:Star Rider ZERO Category:Star Rider ZERO Episodes Category:Star Rider ZERO Season 1 Episodes